It was really amazing when former Yardbirds Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page performed “Beck’s Bolero” and “Immigrant Song” from Led Zeppelin at the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction!
following the release of Yardbirds (“Roger the Engineer”) in June 1966, Samwell-Smith abruptly left the band to pursue a career as a record producer following a drunken performance at Queen’s College in Oxford, United Kingdom. That evening at the show, Jimmy Page agreed to fill in as bassist until rhythm guitarist Dreja had a chance to practice.
With Page on bass and Beck and Dreja on guitars, the group went on the road, performing at venues in Paris, the UK, and on a barnstorming tour of the Midwest and the California coast. Late in the tour, Beck became unwell and was admitted to a San Francisco hospital. On August 25, at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco, Page assumed lead guitar duties as Dreja moved to bass.
Recorded in July and September of 1966, the lead guitar combo of Beck and Page produced the avant-garde psychedelic rock classic “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” (featuring future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on bass instead of Dreja). “Psycho Daisies,” an early garage punk song with lead guitar, bass, and vocals by Beck (who notably references Mary Hughes in the lyrics), used as the backing music for “Happenings” in the United Kingdom. “The Nazz Are Blue,” the U.S. B-side to “Happenings,” also includes a rare solo vocal by Beck.